Food Subsidy Bill stands at Rs. 107823.75 crore during 2014-15 (upto
January, 2015), shows an increase of 20% over previous year
Rationalisation of subsidies and better targeting of beneficiaries will release resources for public investment in agriculture: Economic Survey
Rationalisation of subsidies and better targeting of beneficiaries will release resources for public investment in agriculture: Economic Survey
The Economic Survey 2014-15 has
acknowledged that the Food Subsidy Bill has increased substantially in the past
few years putting a severe strain on the public exchequer.
An amount of Rs. 107823.75 crore has been released as Food Subsidy during the
year 2014-15 (upto January 9, 2015). This is a substantial increase of
20.15% over 2013-14 when an amount of Rs. 89740 crore was released as food
subsidy.
Provision of minimum nutritional
support to the poor through subsidized foodgrains and ensuring price stability
in different states are the twin objectives of the food security system.
The Economic Survey states that while
the economic cost of wheat and rice has continuously gone up, the issue price
has been kept unchanged since July 1, 2002. This has resulted in large
amounts of subsidy on foodgrains distributed through the TPDS/NFSA and other
welfare schemes.
The Economic Survey also states that
agriculture and food sector needs huge investment in research, education,
extension, irrigation, fertilizers, and laboratories to test soil, water and
commodities, warehousing, cold-storage. Rationalization of subsidies and
better targeting of beneficiaries would release resources for public investment
in agriculture.
The survey opines that the focus of
public expenditure for agriculture so far has been on provision of subsidies
(public expenditure in agriculture is only one-fourth of expenditure towards
food and fertilizer subsidies, CACP Kharif report 2014-15) and it is time it
shifted towards investments to boost productivity. Recommendations of Shanta
Kumar Committee provide useful suggestions for the future road-map of
food-policy, says the Economic Survey.
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